Dawn

Dawn

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Well, I should have been taking part today in the outdoor filming of a docudrama about the sinking of British ship along the Galician coast. But, with exquisite timing, the director chose the first day of rain in almost 6 months. And the project sank, appropriately enough.

In the small hours of Wednesday morning, the government removed Madrid’s last equestrian statue of General Franco. Since then we’ve been treated to protests and moonlight vigils from ultra right-wingers. These have taken to giving the fascist salute to the empty pedestal and, now, to leaving flowers and notes at the scene. Rather like at the gates of Kensington Palace after the death of Princess Diana. I’m now racking by brain to figure what else Franco and Diana might have in common. Apart from being… well, dead. Meanwhile, though, I’ve noted that Spain’s fascists look rather less like NAZI skinheads than down-at-heel British aristocrats.

The politicians have been chipping away at the Bill introducing Spain’s points-based driving licence system. There is now a range of deductions for offences such as driving above the alcohol limit, exceeding 146kph, not wearing a safety belt and talking on a mobile phone. So far, though, I haven’t seen any reference to the penalty for doing all of these at the same time. By the way, 146kph is just above 90mph and comfortably exceeds the nominal limit of 120.

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